1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of molecular biology and medicine. More particularly, it concerns miRNA for the treatment of cancer and their use as an immunotherapeutic.
2. Description of Related Art
Glioblastoma, the most common type of primary malignant brain tumor, is associated with disproportionately high morbidity and mortality. Despite multi-modality treatment, the median survival time is 14.6 months for patients with newly-diagnosed glioblastoma (Stupp et al., 2005). Significant and profound immunosuppression exists in the glioblastoma microenvironment and systemically that participates in the glioblastoma pathophysiology by both inhibiting anti-tumor immunity and promoting glioma invasion and progress. Specifically, it has been shown that tumor-associated macrophages, the largest infiltrating immune cell population in glioblastomas (Hussain et al., 2006), do not participate in anti-tumor immune responses but rather support the glioblastoma invasion, progression, and therapeutic resistance (Wu et al., 2010). Micro RNAs (miRNA or miRs) are non-coding molecules involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation that have been shown to modulate tumor cell proliferation and apoptosis and to act as oncogenes or tumor-suppressor genes (Gabriely et al., 2008; Iliopoulos et al., 2010). Although some miRNA have been linked to tumor progression, the connection between tumor-mediated immune modulation and miRNA has not been previously demonstrated. Clearly, there is a need for new treatments for cancers, such as glioblastoma.